WWALS Watershed Coalition advocates for conservation and stewardship of the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, and Suwannee River watersheds in south Georgia and north Florida through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

Daily Archives: April 1, 2019

Submissions open for Second Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Hahira, Georgia, April 1, 2019 — No fooling but fun: today songwriters can start submitting new songs about the Suwannee, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, or Little Rivers, or other lakes, swamps, springs, or sinks in the Suwannee River Basin. New this year is a separate winner category for finalists younger than eighteen, in the Second Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. Well-known radio personality Chris Beckham will be the Master of Ceremonies inside in air conditioning Saturday afternoon, August 24, 2019, at The Salty Snapper in Valdosta, Georgia. Three judges will select winners as finalists play. Snacks are included, plus a silent auction and kayak raffle. Come have some family musical fun supporting your local nonprofit WWALS Watershed Coalition and Suwannee Riverkeeper.

Photo: Bret Wagenhorst, of Emmett Carlisle playing at the 2018 Contest

Last year’s winner, Laura D’Alisera has driven from Jacksonville for every contest organizing committee meeting this year, and will sing this year while the judges are judging. She says, “To encourage working songwriters, this year we will Continue reading →

Maybe the gas didn’t go up a sewer pipe to the coffee shop after all.
And in its long-awaited report,
Pipeline Safety at the Georgia Public Service Commission
is not letting AGL hand the blame to its contractors.
This recommended fine does not look like the previous slap on the wrist.

GA-PSC says AGL failed to locate and mark its pipeline in use
and failed to locate “their abandoned natural gas facility at 107 Courtland Ave.,”
which is the address of the Coffee Corner which blew up in August 2017 2018
and sent three women to the hospital with third-degree burns.

PROBABLE VIOLATION:
AGLC failed to consider the use of a valve
to stop the flow of gas, or to check the surrounding buildings and confined areas,
during the response to this incident, as required by their procedures.

But those are just in the first two items, which only got a $15,000
recommended fine each.
The same $15,000 level of fine is recommended for AGL’s failures to test
its personnel for drug or alcohol
after the incident.